Thinking About Forever
by Raven Moonshadow
Summary: If Gaea could start over...where would it start? Would everything still be the same as it was, without Hitomi's power to save them? Orphaned twins have the power...but can they harness it? DISCONTINUED
1. The coming of Forever

I don't own Escaflowne, only the things that I have made up. I would also like to thank Blade and Shadow for their help. They have the original Thinking About Forever up but they changed it's title and a few other things.

            ~Raven =^.~=

**Thinking About Forever**

By: Raven Moonshadow

            It was an honest department store. Large with two floors and attached to a strip mall. With rows upon shelves stuffed full of any item from food to clothes to medicine to toys and any other thing you may want. It was the best place in the entire city to buy anything. 

            Or steal anything.

            With a swift swoosh the automatic doors opened allowing access to the seven teens as they walked in. A scraggly group. All were orphans and considered 'street rats', but the newest man on the job didn't know that and the owner of the store was in the back. It was a good thing that there were no cameras. The store owner didn't remember their faces anyway.

            The two red heads at the front pointed the other five in separate directs and some to different floors. They did this before turning in different directions themselves. The first red head, that was slightly taller, headed toward medical supplies. Her long fiery red hair swinging behind her in soft brushes at her hips as she walked toward the shelves with her head held high and her sapphire eyes determined.

            The other red head was slight shorter with her flaming hair brushing just below her armpits. She walked with bouncing enthusiasm and a large smile as she headed toward the foods. Her emerald green eyes held a sort of enthusiasm just like her joyful steps. She was one who was full of play, like this was a big game when really all the teens were doing was surviving.

            She met with one of the other teens that had walked in with her. Tall and lanky he had long bushy strands of brown hair falling in his deep brown eyes. He smiled. Derek was one of the older ones and one of the biggest flirts.

            "Ver, your on FG D too?" He asked slyly. Jerk.

            "Dirk you jerk. Lets just get the food and get out." She smiled at him. He used a mock crushed look before smiling back. They began pulling things off shelves. Bread, milk, fresh water, canned goods, and other necessities were gathered together. Hopefully they would be able to carry it all. Veronica smiled. Everything they needed for the next week. There was a rustle of paper and plastic.

            Veronica looked over and smiled.

            A slightly older, maybe middle aged short woman had set down her bags and was currently not watching them as she reached as high as she could to reach the top shelf for a product. She was having a hard time. She wouldn't notice if….Veronica slinked over to the bags quietly and looked in. There wasn't a lot of good stuff but a purse and a jeweler's bag. She must have recently bought some jewelry. The mere thought of it made Veronica's grin widen. 

            She reached in and without making a sound snatched the purse and jewelry bag out. She reached over and picked the item out for the woman and held it out for her with a smile.

            "Here you go." She must not have looked like much in her faded torn and worn baggy denim jeans and her old black shirt with its tiny rips—the woman smiled gratefully—but she sure could make a good impression before she ran off.       

            "Thank you young lady." She sounded grateful. Veronica wondered if she would feel the same way later. A loud whistle came.

            It was the signal to get out of there.

            She waved good by and ran back to Derek who waited for her with his arms full. She scooped up her portion and they both ran. 

                                    *                                  *                                  *

            The automatic doors were already open because some of the other members of the gang were already out of the stores exit. It made it easier to escape. Oh so much easier. It also made it easier because as they whisked down the streets there was hardly anyone to stop them. Well except for the broom wielding store owner that was chasing them. Well more like waddling very quickly after them swinging his ax…um broom.

            Veronica laughed joyously, bouncing with each step. Her hair flowing like liquid fire. The same was with Victoria but she didn't bounce she just ran with the oh-shit-hope-we-don't-get-caught look. She was a bit more against stealing. Said it wasn't right but what wasn't right when you wanted to live to see the next day.

            They scrambled down the deserted streets and around the street corner. Only a few cars went by and they knew this as a normal ritual. It was the worst part of the city. Violence, orphans, and gangs were not an uncommon thing. They just ignored them. If the police did nothing the bystanders would do nothing.

            The group slid down the ally way towards a high fence. Around it there were a few sprouts of green and a rusting old car that had been left there. Another teen was sitting in side the empty thing. Most of the parts had been scavenged and it was now a good look out post when the others left. 

            Someone needed to protect their home more than the needed supplies.

            He waved. A well muscled fellow he was for a fifteen year old. They nodded their heads and he moved to slip a loose plank of old wood to the side. He held it and one by one the seven teens slipped inside. 

The placed their supplies, newly stolen, on the ground. Food was immediately placed in the safe room. The safe room was a concrete four walled room that was probably the cellar to the old building that made up the right side of the alley. The left side of the room was used for the supplies and included a cooler that kept the perishables kind of fresh. 

            The right side was where the gang slept. There were three mattresses and tons of old blankets and ripped pillows with the stuffing oozing out of them. But they were still comfortable and it kept the group warm. It also kept them safe because the door was made of iron and could be locked from both the inside and there was a secret latch that could lock it from the outside.

            So far they had never been found and they usually kept everything inside so if they were attacked from a rival gang they would not get anything important. Unless they got one of the members but that had yet to happen. 

            As Veronica bent and placed the food inside she felt a pair of hands fall to her hips. She smirked. 

            "What is it Derek? Don't you have something better to do?" She asked in mock annoyance. She could practically see the grin on his face.

            "Aw you know you like it besides…" He gave her rear a small spank, causing her to jump. "…I finished putting my share away." He bent down and molded with her frame. The brunette breathed huskily into her ear causing a small shiver of delight. With half lidded eyes she did her best to resist him.

            "You better watch it. That's _my twin your messing with, besides there are children around here." Came a monotone voice. Derek immediately backed away and held his hands up. Victoria stood in the door way with 5 smaller children between the ages seven and ten. She was the group leader. The big woman. _

            The brains of the operation.

            "Sorry 'bout that." Derek said backing away.

            "You better be. Now there are some people out there that need your help. We're sorting things and it would be appreciated if you…" Victoria sent him a look and he was already moving past her. Her message had been clear. That hadn't been a request that had been a command.

            Veronica smiled. "Thanks sis, don't know what I'd do without you."

            "You'd probably be a sex slave to either Derek or a few of the other guys in this gang or a rape victim of a rival gang. You know…the ones that are always after us." Victoria winked. She waved the kids over to her twin. The dirtied little bright eyed 'runts', as Veronica playfully called them, rushed over and crowded at her feet she patted each with a promise a nice cleaning later. 

            Victoria came over a handed Veronica a mound of clothes. "Check these out. They were stolen today with you in mind. They should just about be your size."

            "What about you?"

            "I already have mine. We have already sorted all the clothes out amongst the group."

            "Here…" she handed the jewelry bag to Victoria. "…I swiped this from some unsuspecting woman along with her whole purse." Victoria gave her one of those looks but took the bag and looked inside. Veronica was grinning and by the time Victoria looked up she was grinning too.

            A sign that either meant something bad was going to happen or there was going to be some serious partying going on.       

                                    *                                  *                                  *

            They were dressed to kill. All of the teens were. If they you saw them walking down the street you would have seen a group of party happy teens. The over hanging street lights glowed like spot lights. But it was still dark.

            Too dark.

            They hardly could hear anything over their talk and chatter but when a sudden pang of discomfort like she was being watched hit Veronica square in the gut she stopped and looked in all directions. Victoria stopped too. She hushed everyone into silence.

            "Ver…what's wrong?" Victoria asked her eyes darting in every direction in case of visible reasons for distress. Everyone went on guard. Veronica shrugged.

            "I don't know, just got this feeling that we're being watched. That's all." Everyone relaxed slightly and moved along toward the club they were going too. But this time it was in total silence. No one dared to speak, just listen.

            And is what warned them.

            A whistle of something whirling in a circle echoed down the deserted street. The group of teens turned in every which-way of a direction and finally their gaze landed on a dark unlit ally. That was where the sound had originated. 

            There was a click and a shuffle of feet. Someone was in there and he stepped out in all of his muscular glory. He had to be 5'9" with a long thick iron chain of links that he swung in front of him with the most malicious grin. He wasn't the only one.

            Five more shuffled out behind him and across the street in another dark empty alley way eight flung from their hiding places and ran to surround the group of teens. Each had some sort of weapon, whether it was improvised or made to be dangerous. Some had knives, others had chains or pipes or even planks of wood with jagged nails popping out of the end. 

            Veronica and Victoria knew who they were. They had seen this gang often. A dirty vicious group called Hammer and Nails after the first two leaders of the group, even though Nails was killed in an accident. Hammer was probably the man in front of them with the chain. 

A long jagged scar ran from his ear to his chin. Veronica remembered when Victoria had given him that when he had tried to 'have fun' with her. They had only been 13 back then, two years ago, but it was clear in her memory.

Hammer smiled. "Well hello. Look what we have here boys. It's our friends from MysticCurse." They hooted and hollered like animals. One man whistled and smacked Victoria's ass. She smacked his hand when he tried it again and Lucan, the 15 year old who usually had guard duty, stepped in front of Victoria with a glare. His build rivaled half of the opposing gang members. Some of them stepped back.

A pipe shot out and caught Timothy's head. He was another of the members of the gang and his dark brown hair glittered with blood where he was hit as his blue eyes rolled back into his head and he crumpled to the ground. Tasha rushed to him. She had curly brown hair, dark skin, and evergreen colored eyes. 

She whipped out her pocket knife and swung it as she stood over Timothy muttering Spanish curses while warding off oppressing forces. A chain stuck the arm holding the knife. It clattered to the ground and she let out a painful screech. She was then grabbed by the waist and dragged up against a man. She flailed. Her arms struck him her nails bit in and finally she brought her knee up painfully into his groin. He howled and flung her away.

Veronica rushed to her aid. Tasha was a good friend and there was no way in hell that the red head would let them do anything to her. Tasha spit and muttered something about breaking a nail before standing up with the help of Veronica.

"El es un moron de mierda." _He is a fucking moron._

Veronica nodded at Tasha's words. Tasha looked back, probably to see if Timothy was still there. When she saw him she sighed in relief before turning back to the gang. She hit them with a glare and if looks could kill the gang would have been dead in that second. 

There was yell, it made heads turn. Both flicked their green eyes to the sound before spinning completely toward the yell. Lucan was rammed into a wall by two enemy gang members. The rest of the gang took their chance and Hammer grabbed Victoria by the arms and twisted them behind her back painfully. She bit her lip. She wasn't fond of pain and Veronica knew it. It made the situation even worse when she, herself, was grabbed from behind. 

The redhead yelled. And just as suddenly, she was twisted free and pushed behind someone. Derek. He was glaring furiously at everyone who came near. I guess it was that look that said if-I-can't-have-her-in-my-bed-then-you-can't-either. Veronica sighed. He just didn't stop did he? Even when they were fighting a rival gang.

Derek was knocked aside but by that time Veronica was already heading toward her sister. She paused to look back at Derek but continued on. The redhead nearly tripped over something and she looked down to see what it was. A small can of spray. Pepper spray. Oh boy did she get lucky. Some woman must have dropped it.

There was a god.

Veronica grabbed it and rushed toward Victoria and Hammer with a new purpose in mind. 

"Hey big boy! Over here!" Hammer looked up from his prisoner and Veronica took her chance. She held the spray up and pressed down. The spray hissed out of the can. A direct hit. Oddly, Hammer made the same sound as the can with a yowl like a cat added at the end. He threw Victoria at Veronica and she narrowly dodged being knocked over.

"Veronica! Victoria!" They both looked when Derek yelled that. The twin red heads finally seemed to realize why he sounded so concerned. 

The entire male part of their gang had been beaten down leaving only the females, Tasha, Veronica, and Victoria, unharmed. Timothy, Jacob, and Garret had been knocked out and Lucan and Derek were being held down.

The twins and Tasha both let out curses. 

Hammer was rubbing at his eyes with a scowl across his face. "Damn it little girl, I'll get you back for that. Little slut." He spat out. Veronica crossed her arms over her chest.

"I am not a slut." She said indignantly. He grinned.

"You are now. You're a slut for our gang along with that pretty twin of yours and the Spanish girl." He opened his eyes. They were slightly red and freaky. The girls backed away. "Get them, boys!" 

The girls were startled to say the least. Victoria tried to fight back but her skirt restricted most of her movement and Veronica did know to much about the subject but she tried. Tasha was high kicking and low kicking and always kicking until one of the men grabbed her foot. She tried to pull away. He let go and she lost her balance.

She fell hard on her back and Veronica was torn between her sister and her friend. She had no idea of what to do. She just smacked them down as they came to her and got who ever was coming near Tasha and Victoria. If the men were within her reach. Most of them kept getting back up and trying again. And again. And again.

Finally she was tackled down painfully. Her arm was twisted behind her back and as she hit the ground the small pebbles and pavement ripped open her elbows and arm. Her head whipped back and smacked her pavement hard causing little dots to appear in her vision. Veronica ground her teeth with a growl. Gosh darn that hurt. Now she was hurt and to top it off they were holding her down. How was she going to help Tasha or her sister now?

Tasha was in the same situation but her knees were pushing up against the guy holding her down to keep some distance between them. Victoria had been thrown against a wall by Hammer with his head buried between her breasts. Victoria looked like she was going to throw up. Veronica could tell as her sisters face got sickly looking.

Hammer motioned two of the gang members over and they held Victoria down. As they held her Hammer slid one of his large filthy hands up her shirt. The last thing Veronica heard before everything went red was Victoria's unbearably pained whimper. 

Veronica's eyes went from their normal emerald green to bright neon green and she pulled back her lips for a snarl. No one touched her sister like that. Ever! Around her the wind picked up and sent all the papers flying. She growled. Suddenly the guy pinning her down flew up high into the air then took a turn and was smashed into a building with a startled scream.

Veronica pushed herself up menacingly. Then she lifted her head to the sky and screamed. Gale winds picked up, sending cars, dumpsters, and people into the air. Well enemy people. She turned her attention back to Hammer and his two goons pinning Victoria. Veronica glared and a small tornado formed in front of her. 

It flew towards them and picked Hammer and his goons up and tossed them high into the air leaving only Victoria to collapse to the ground unharmed. The rest of the unharmed rival gang members were tossed into the air. She raised her arms to the sky and concentrated before jerking them back down. All of the people up in the air, and the cars and dumpsters were smashed down into the ground.

Victoria, Tasha, Derek, and Lucan looked up at Veronica with horrified surprise and maybe a little bit of relief and confusion. Slowly a lavender glow surrounded her and then left. Her eyes went back to her normal color and she blinked.

"Huh…what…?" She managed to get past her lips before her eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted. Victoria and Derek rushed to her side.

"Lucan, Tasha…check the unconscious and wounded. See if their all right." Victoria commanded. They nodded and went over to the other three members of their group. A small lavender pattern appeared and glowed on Veronica's cheek. A beam of light shone down from the sky and landed on them all. They were pulled upward, dragged up into the sky and through the clouds. 

The large beam became three separate beams of light and flew off on separate paths to land in different places in a world called Gaea. One beam dropped the injured rival gang into endless fields. Another dropped two teens into a country called Fanelia. The rest of the gang was sent in the third beam of light to a floating ship owned by Zaibach called the Vione.

~Owari

Raven: Wow that was a long first chapter. I hope I can make all of the chapters this long. I could have made this a short story if I hadn't put in the Fanelia, Gaea, and Zaibach into it at the end. Oh well. Anywhoo, here it is, re written and hopefully much better then the last one. But don't think I'm going to get to update often. I hardly have time to work on the other stories I have up. And I still have many more I want to put up but I hold off until I finish at least one of my stories. Okay. Hopefully I can get another chapter up soon.


	2. Waking to a New

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne or any of its characters or places but I do own my own original characters that I have made up. So don't sue me and please… don't use any of my characters without my permission or any of my plot (which really hasn't begun yet but this is for later. Just in case. Okay bub bye.

A.N-this is still on hold I just had a sudden inspiration to write this chapter. Besides…I only got two reviews for the last chapter and that made me sad because I like it when people give me more reviews.

~Raven Moonshadow =^.~=

**Thinking About Forever**

 By: Raven Moonshadow

         Chapter two

As the light took up the gangs a dark figure watched from the shadows with an evil twisted smile. Its eyes glowed red and it laughed as the dark shadow darted up into the sky and followed the light.

_Black.__ Total darkness._

_Crimson eyes.__ Glowing. Veronica shivered._

_'Who are you?'_

_'I am your nightmare, princess.' Deep and rolling, a voice full of power. Light reflected off pearly white teeth. _

_And fangs.___

_It approached her. She felt it moving._

_'What did you call me?'_

_'Princess…'_

_'Why?'_

_'You will remember soon enough.' It smiled maliciously and laughed._

_'Wha…?'_

            Her head swam. Fuzzy white dots appeared and sparkled before her eyes as she slowly opened them. 

The red head blinked. 

That mere movement caused her to wince in pain. Ouch. What had happened? She asked herself mentally as she looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling above her head. There was an ugly yellow stain from a constant source of dripping water that marred the plaster into a slightly flaking state. Veronica rolled to her side so she was facing the wall.

            Okay so there was a ceiling above her head. That she could tell, ugh…and she could also guess that the room had been used before by the slight odor wafting around it. There were walls, plain white walls, totally bare. She was in a bed, a WHOLE bed that was quite comfortable actually except from that one spring that was poking at her back.  She definitely didn't recognize anything of her own or of the gangs, well…except for the clothes that she had been wearing during the attack. But shouldn't they be on her body?

            She turned on her other side and looked around some more. Ah yes, she had escaped the torture of the bed spring of pain. Heh. 

There was the door, across from the bed. There was table with a glass of water on it and a chair by her bed. The red head blinked as she stared into the crystalline water, her mouth gone dry. She reached out for the water. Veronica was _so _thirsty for some reason. At that exact moment there was a jingle of keys and a really loud creak and…

The door opened.

"Oh you're awake." Veronica looked over at the sound of the friendly but slightly surprised voice. Her eyes immediately took in the teen's features, sizing him up and assuming strength, just in case he was an attacker…or a rapist or something. There, in the doorway, stood a blonde boy, maybe about her age, with blue eyes and an innocently friendly smile. It didn't look like he could hurt a fly. But he was wearing the strangest outfit; it looked like blue armor or something and he had a sword in his belt that swung at his hip. A sword was definitely _not innocent. Maybe appearances really are only skin deep. _

"Where am I? Where are my friends?" Veronica sat up quickly, not noticing if anything felt strange. The blanket fell away from her upper body. She got no response from him but she did notice that his stare was on her chest. And then his cheeks became as red as a rose and he looked away. Veronica blinked and then looked down.

Big mistake. 

The red-head screeched and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. A flush made its way up her neck and flared across her cheeks in a lovely shade of scarlet.

"WHY AREN'T I WEARING CLOTHES!?!" Veronica yelled. Two other boys her age ran in with hands on the hilts of their swords ready to defend in case she attacked. One had light brown hair and blue eyes, the same armor as the blond, and the other was blond with parted bangs and blue eyes.

"What was that, Shesta?" The brunette asked. The blond boy shifted uneasily, stuttering his mumbled responses till the red receded to a light pink.

"She sat up in bed and didn't notice she had no clothes on. Then she screamed." The blond boy, Shesta, said. Both of the other boys blinked. Another boy with shoulder length brown hair poked his head in.

"Did I hear something about some girl not having clothes on?" Instantly Veronicas green eyes zoomed in on him in the most menacing glare that a naked girl could muster up. And quite frankly, that was one hell of a glare.

"If I ever get my clothes back and I get out of this bed you will be the first to die and then the blond boy who saw me will go." Veronica growled out. All four of the guys looked at her as she glared, clutching the sheets to her chest. They all looked back at each other.

"Maybe we should inform Lord Folken and Lord Dilandau that she is awake." The blond with parted bangs said. The light brown haired one nodded and so did the Shesta boy. The long haired brunette stepped into the door way.

"Actually Lord Folken sent me to tell you that when she wakes up she is to be brought to Lord Dilandau and Lord Folken in the 'throne' room. So just give her the clothes she had been wearing before and let's go. It's almost lunch." At the mention of lunch Veronica's stomach growled. She looked down at it and shushed it. They all nodded and the one brunette left. The blond with parted bangs and the light brown haired one merely stepped out of the room and turned to guard the room. 

Shesta walked across the room and picked up her clothes from off the chair. He stepped to the bed and Veronica scooted away to the other side. He placed them on the bed with a smile.

"I'm sorry I saw anything. I really didn't mean to." He said before leaving and closing the door. No doubt he was on the other side waiting for her to be finished. Veronica grabbed her clothes and looked around for any hidden cameras. She still had no idea where she was, where her friends were, or what these guys wanted. Who knows what kinds of perverts were around, watching her every move.

That thought kind of scared Veronica.

Satisfied that there were no cameras, Veronica changed into her underwear and club clothes; her low-cut baggy jeans, the belly shirt that laced up at the bottom that was low cut, and the worn combat boots. Her earrings, choker, bracelets, and belly ring were all still there. They hadn't taken anything, at least nothing she noticed.

She stood from the bed after lacing up her boots and opened the door. The boys looked surprised to see her in the tight shirt that showed off her curves and the silver belly ring with the metallic purple beads at the end. It glittered in the low light. All of them blinked. She heard a low wolf whistle from behind her and a "damn sweetheart." Upon hearing that she swung around and right hooked whoever was behind her in the jaw. The long haired brunette fell against the wall in surprise as his head snapped to the side.

"Whistle again and I'll kick you where the sun don't shine, _sweetheart._" She growled out. Veronica strained the word 'sweetheart' ominously. Behind her the other guys snickered.

"Good going Dalet. Didn't think she could and would do that, did you?" The light haired brunette said.

"Shut up, Miguel." Veronica turned back to the other boys.

"Let's just go where ever I'm supposed to go so I can find out where the hell I am and where my friends and sister are." Veronica said, feeling the beginning of a headache. She grimaced as the dull throbbing from before started to worsen. 

Boy, she could tell that the day was beginning to go from bad to worse.

"Fine then, let's go. Follow us." The one that she had heard as Miguel said. All four of them had suddenly boxed her in and they were heading down. The whole boxed in thing made her nervous. Each time one of them happened to brush against her she would push or slap the arm away from her. She had too many memories of being cornered between bunches of guys with weapons to be comfortable in this situation. 

In the back right corner of the box formation was the brunette she had socked in the jaw. He was still rubbing his jawbone, making sure it was still in place, and at the same time he kept throwing her dark looks. Shesta was looking uneasily at Dalet from the back left corner. The brunette however ignored the looks and now muttered incoherent things that sounded quite dark. She did, though, manage to catch the words bitch, whore, stupid female, and lousy. And as they passed down more corridors, a few that had other boys dressed in the same outfit as the four surrounding her who gave her looks, she became more fed up and annoyed by his dark muttering.

Finally they arrived in front of a large set of doors. Two soldiers were outside it, standing like statues, which turned and one slipped his hand into some kind of panel next to one door and the doors opened. Veronica nearly jumped back at the quick slide the doors made. Miguel looked back at her and arched an eyebrow at her reaction before they headed in.

Inside, the four boys went to the right and stood perfectly straight before a large chair. It was too dark for her to see, but she could tell that there was someone sitting there with a glass of liquid. But she was left standing by the doors and jumped as they slid shut. Turning around she gave the doors a look, as if she could make them feel her curiosity and surprise and cautiousness. Then Veronica turned back to survey the sparsely decorated room. A long table and chairs was to her left, in front of her was the stone looking chair with a lion like thing posed behind it and two young men standing on either side of the chair, and to her right there was a lot of shadow.  And something moved in the shadow. She stared hard at it. What was it? 

"Well, well… you're finally up, girl." Her head snapped back to the chair. That annoyingly mocking voice was something that gave her the chills. Already she felt resentment for the male voice that spoke like he was somehow so much better than her. Veronica narrowed her eyes in his direction. She saw the man stand up from the chair and put his glass down on a small table beside the chair. He took a step forward.

Now she caught a glimpse of his mocking garnet eyes. He looked down his nose at her with the highest air of prickdom that screamed: 'I'm an asshole, Beware!'

"Hm? Speak, girl, I asked your name. Stop staring like some kind of halfwit." She heard the Dalet boy snicker from the corner of the boys group. She growled with a glare.

"My name is none of your business." She spoke looking up at his taller figure with angry emerald eyes.

"You'll have yourself dragged down to the dungeon sooner than later if you don't tell me who you are and where you came from." He took another step closer. His armor was similar to the other boys, except it was blood red instead of blue. 

"Dilandau, if you use that kind of language on her she won't speak. I can guarantee it." Another male voice spoke from the shadows. A slightly older man immerged, maybe in his twenties, cloaked in black with a teardrop tattooed under one of his brownish-mahogany colored eyes. She gave him an exceptionally cautious glance. The rude boy in red snorted.

"Well if she knew her place like a good little woman then I wouldn't be having a problem with her."

"A good little woman? Who the hell do you think you are? I don't have to take this kind of BS from anyone, least of all you." Veronica snapped at the silver haired boy with crimson eyes. His eyes came right back on her and pinned her with a menacing glare.

"What did you say?" He growled.

"You heard me, buck-o. I've lived my whole life without listening to what anybody had to say, if I choose not to. I'm not gonna start now." She gave him her tough look that betrayed none of the fright she was feeling at the sight of his angry blood red eyes. Even the four boys that had led her in looked surprised and maybe even a little afraid. 

The guy, who she had heard as Dilandau, approached her menacingly, his intent to kill quiet obvious. "Is that so?" He growled out, stopping in front of her. She took a deep breath and looked up at him completely unafraid, at least on the outside. She glared back at him.

"Yeah." She said defiantly. She saw his hand twitch, ready to grab the weapon at his belt. She silently gulped.

"I should teach you your place, wench." He said. Then he smirked. "I'll put you in so much pain you'll wish you were dead. And then, if your body is still intact, maybe I'll make you nice little bed warmer." Veronica felt her eyebrow twitch as her eyes hardened further before smirking. She would play his little game.

"Me..._your bed warmer? Ha! You wish, snob." She laughed, before the red head grinned evilly. "Oh, go kiss a mirror, pretty boy. Maybe if you wish hard enough the mirror will make you look more like a man and less like a girl. You can only be one or the other, you know." She was smirking even though now he looked completely pissed. He apparently couldn't handle someone who could play the game of insults. _

Her eyes flickered to the tall, dark, and creepy man who had emerged from shadow. He had been watching the whole seen and now he cracked a smile before a short burst of laughter came from him. Dilandau looked over with the most evil of all glares and the four guys were looking at the man wide eyed. He clapped.

"Very good…" He gave her a questioning look. She took a breath before finally deciding he was better than the silver haired one.

"Veronica." She said. He smiled.

"Very good Veronica. I haven't seen something this amusing in quiet some time. Let alone someone go head to head with Dilandau in a game of wits and insult. You were very good at hiding that you were terrified of Dilandau." He said walking forward. His cape like thing swooshed against the floor as he came forward. She blinked at him.

"How did you…?"

"You don't seem to realize that when you became frightened your hands shook, so you put them behind your back." He said. She took her hands from behind her back, which she didn't realize she had put behind her.

"Wow I didn't notice." Veronica said astonished while looking down at her hands, completely forgetting the angry boy before her. His enraged growl alerted her to his presence and she then stepped back as a fist made its way towards her. She ducked out of habit, slid down into a split, with one leg between his legs and then twirled the other leg around, tripping him, rolling onto her stomach like a seal, and then kicking up into a handstand.

This was all done in self-defense without her even realizing it.

When she got back up, the Dilandau boy was on the floor growling up at her, four boys were staring at her in shock, and the tall, dark guy was actually looking a little surprised. She blinked.

"Whoops. Never try to hit me. I go into a sort of self-defense mode without realizing it." Veronica said as a matter-o-fact. "You can even ask my friend Derek, he's had first hand experience." The tall guy twitched the corners of his lips up. He looked like a man with a plan in mind.

"Veronica what would you like to do, now?" He asked. She looked at him weirdly.

"Well I'd kinda like to find out where my friends and sister are."

"There was a group that arrived here with you. They are down in the so called dungeon. It's more like a holding block with barred cells." He said. She nodded. 

"I have to get them. Then we should probably get home, the runts are probably really scared and alone." Veronica said. 

"Runts?"

"I'll explain later." The red head started towards the door. She looked back at him with a questioning look. "Well, aren't you going to show me where my friends are?" She asked. He nodded and opened the door. They began walking leaving a very angry Dilandau behind them who had just stood with the help of Miguel. He muttered darkly as the doors shut.

They went down a series of passages and stairs. Veronica looked up at him as they walked.

"So I've been meaning to ask two things. One, what's your name. And two, where are we?" Veronica asked.

"My name is Folken Stratago and we are on the Vione flying above the Fanelian forests. What's your full name and where do you come from?" Folken asked. She blinked.

"Veronica Aura Le Fay and I'm from a dirty neighborhood in New York." She said. She looked up at him confused. "But I've never heard of Fanelia."

"As have I never heard of this New York." She blinked.

"Never?"

"Never." 

"How? Everyone knows about New York. It's like the center of crime and interesting things in America." 

"Never heard of America either."

"What?! What planet are you from?"

"This one."

"Apparently not if you don't know about America either."

"Maybe you're the one from another planet." He said looking out the window up into the night sky.

"Now you're talking crazy."

"Maybe you're from the Mystic Moon."

"M-Mystic what?" Veronica stopped completely to look at him. He pointed up into the sky from out the window. She walked over and looked out and came to see the most surprising think she had ever witnessed. "Holy shit…the earth is in sky." 

She had gone into a sort of shocked state. Folken waved his good hand in front of her face after a few minuets of her just standing there staring at the sky. A few times, without realizing it, she swatted Folkens hand away and mumbled a few incoherent words. 

Veronica was at, not only a loss for words, but also a loss for any thought process that could logically explain what was going on. Her mind kept going: '_This is not earth, this is not the place you belong, no wonder the people are strange'_ over and over. She suddenly felt lost and afraid. She had no explanation for the feeling of subtle joy she felt nor would she bother to think about it for a while. 

"What is wrong Veronica?" Folken asked, he didn't sound _that_ worried but it still sounded like he wanted to know what was with her mindless state. 

She pointed up at the 'Mystic Moon' blindly while giving him a bewildered look. "I come from there. That's the earth…and it's in the sky. I think…I'm gonna…have a…mental breakdown…right now." Veronica wavered on her feet. Folken steadied her with one hand on her shoulder.

"You come from the Mystic Moon?"

"Yes, if that's what you call it, I come from the Mystic Moon." Veronica said. Her headache had reached a blinding maximum. She brought her hand up to cover her face. He "hm'ed…" and looked like he was thinking about what would be done with her next. Maybe he thought she was crazy. Maybe he'd put her down in the holding cells and treat her cruelly. 

Maybe he'd believe her and want her to join this ship he called the Vione.

She looked up at him as saw that the last thought was a good possibility. He definitely didn't look like he thought she was crazy and he didn't look like he wanted to though her in a cell. He actually looked, strangely enough, pleased. 

She blinked.

He turned back towards the direction they had been originally heading. "Come with me." Folken said. She followed him.

"Where?"

"To get your friends."

"Then what?"

"I'd like you to join the ranks here. Have any fighting abilities?" 

"I've lived the tough streets since I can remember. You have to fight to survive."

"Good. We'll train you and you can become a part of this ships staff, possibly a DragonSlayer."

The red head blinked. She was confused by didn't bother asking. No doubt she would find out what he was talking about later. 

They finally came to the holding area. In one cell were all her friends being guarded by two young men. Veronica rushed to the bars.

"Guys!" She said happily. Tasha looked up.

"Veronica?" 

"Veronica!" Derek rushed to the bars and grabbed a hold of her hands. "I was so worried for you. Did they do anything to you? I'll kill them if they did." Tasha pushed Derek aside.

"Veronica, you have to do something. They won't allow us to have any medical treatment. Timothy got sick from the open wound he had from the last fight. They wouldn't treat him." Tasha said angrily, glaring at the guards. Folken turned towards the guards who bowed.

"Lord Folken. Is this one to join the rest?" The one guard asked. Folken shook his head.

"They are all to come with me. Let them out at once." Folken said. The guard jumped to attention with a "yes sir" and opened the lock. The doors slid away. Derek was the first to jump out and grab Veronica in a huge hug. Tasha and Jacob came out helping Timothy, who looked quiet sick and pale and Garret limped out behind them.

"Where are Victoria and Lucan?"

"Not here. When I first came-to in this cell I noticed they weren't here." Tasha said. Veronica looked quite displeased as she stared at the group. She turned toward Folken.

"When we first arrived here was there another red headed girl that looked like me or a big, as in muscular, teenage boy with like dark ashy colored hair?" The red head asked. Folken shook his head.

"No there wasn't. It was only you and this group that was found." He said. Veronica muttered curses that would make a drunken sailor blush before muttering something to Tasha…who then promptly burst out laughing. The brunette looked at Derek and started laughing even harder, though still trying to keep a grip on the injured Timothy.

"What? What is it?" He asked dumbly. Veronica smiled.

"Nothing for you to worry about, Derek-dear." She giggled at his stupefied expression. She turned back to Folken suddenly. "I need to get my group medically up-to-date and healed. Then we will do what you want in return. What was it? Become Dragonslayers?" Veronica asked completely serious and devoid of the previous humor. 

Business mode: On.

Folken nodded to the redhead and turned up the stairs. "Right this way." They continued behind him. He turned back to Veronica quickly with a smirk. "You might want to explain to your friends about your location situation." He said before continuing up. Veronica blinked and then turned towards her friends. 

"I have something to explain to you that I don't wholly believe myself…"

~Owari

Raven: Yeah that was long and sudden but don't expect too much too soon. This is still on hold and I still have chronic writers block. But I hope you enjoy this anyway. It's for the two people who actually reviewed. 


	3. Joining the Search

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne or any of its characters but I do own Veronica, Victoria, and their gang; that and all other original characters you see. This is NOT an AU. You'll learn more about the plot and my villain which we met briefly in the second chapter *hint hint red eyes, shadow, fangs hint hint* If you like Hitomi she won't really appear all that much and it won't be until much later on in the story. I hope you like. 

****

**Thinking About Forever**

By: Raven Moonshadow

Chapter 3

Victoria clenched her fingers and found soft green blades of grass. Long grass that rose above her body that lay immobile amongst the foliage hid her only partially from the rays of the fiery sun.

The red head could barely call herself conscious. Everything had happened so fast. The fight with Hammer's gang, being nearly beaten by them, Veronica's strange burst of hurricane-ish power, and then the beam of light. After that it was a blur. 

One huge blur that made no sense.

Well she definitely wasn't in the city anymore. That much could be proven by the grass and the sounds, or lack of. She blinked her sapphire eyes quickly before closing them back up. She wanted to make some kind of sound but her throat closed itself off from letting anything pass.

_I wonder how everyone else is,_ she thought. There had been quite a few injuries. Was everyone okay? How was Veronica? Were there somewhere in the same field?

Wait…what was that?

Something crunched through a spot of dry sun blasted grass and swore. There were other foot steps around the first but softer.  From Victoria's experience, barefooted people made less sound because they were already trying hard to miss stepping on anything potentially dangerous then people with boots. 

"Are you sure you saw something fall around her last night, Ruhm?" It was a male voice.

"Yes, lord Van. There was a bright light that came down for a second and I saw two figures in it." The guy, she assumed was this Ruhm, answered. He was getting dangerously close to stepping on her. She could feel the grass near her left side shifting slightly and she just hoped that he saw her before he stepped on her. Victoria didn't have a voice to tell him to stop or the consciousness and strength to wave an arm or something.

But luckily the crunching stopped near her.

"Lord Van, Ruhm, I found someone." Came a voice from above her. Her eye lids could barely lift themselves to look at who found her. "It's a young woman." The person knelt down, successfully blocking the sun, and put a hand on her neck. The red head assumed to check if she was alive. But the problem was that the so called hand did not feel like a hand. It was more like a paw with slightly longer toes that any other animal she had known and larger.

"Yes I can see. There is another one over here, but a male." The Ruhm guy said. She was beginning to pick out voices with names she heard them say.

"They both look to be about my age." Lord Van guy. She could tell because he sounded like the youngest of the group. "I can carry the girl, but the guy looks like he'll need more than one of you to carry him to the caravan." His voice got closer until she felt some one pick her up and cradle her.

"Her hair is like enchanted ruby fire." One gasped. If she had the strength to or had her eyes open she would have blinked rapidly in confusion. 

"I have never seen one with such brilliant red hair." Another said. These people seemed to like her hair. The guy who was carrying her shifted and she felt him grasp her hair and place it over her shoulder so that it lay across her chest. 

"Then we shall have to keep it nice and away from the dirty things you guys keep in the caravan." He sounded like he was smiling. And her eyes flickered open slightly to catch the profile of a handsome young man with brown eyes and messy black hair. 

Then everything faded into oblivion. 

                                    *                      *                      *

The quiet chirping of birds woke her. Warmth surrounded her as sunlight bathed the entire room from a huge open window. Her sapphire eyes blinked open and her brow creased. Victoria brought her arm up to shade her eyes. _Sun…way too bright…_

Ugh. She moaned, her entire upper body stiff as she tried to sit up. "Where am I…?" She rolled her shoulders as she propped herself up onto her elbows. Her ruby red hair slipped over her shoulder in a braid. She blinked. Her clothes had been changed too. 

Someone had…touched her. While she had been out cold and completely defenseless. 

And that was a disturbing thought. 

A girl opened the door. Victoria jumped and snapped her head in the direction of the young teen, instantly regretting it as her neck made a loud snapping sound. _OUCH! Ahhhugh that hurt…_ She winced but kept her eyes trained on the younger looking girl, maybe early teens, in what looked like some kind of maid outfit. The girl gasped.

"You're awake, milady." The girl placed down a pile of clothes, clothes that happened to look very similar to what Victoria had once been wearing, and quickly made her way to the redhead's side. She gently covered Victoria's forehead with her palm. "Ah good. You're not feverish anymore. This is good news. I shall go fetch king Van and the physician." The girl smiled kindly, curtsied, and then left. Victoria could almost swear the girl was skipping happily. 

Victoria blinked watching the maid. Milady? Feverish? What the hell? Unconsciously the redhead began to twist the end of her braid. There was something seriously wrong with this place. And she hadn't even left the room yet. 

A few seconds later, and a lot of thinking on Victoria's part, the double doors parted and the maid and two other people entered. One was a young man around her age and the other was an older man with a scraggly beard and a kind smile. The maid and the old man seemed to be in a friendly argument with each other. "See! She is awake you old coot." The girl finished pointing to Victoria. The old man scratched his beard. 

"Ah…so she is." The old man smiled. "It seems that I have lost the bet." The girl smiled triumphantly as he dropped a small clanging bag into her palm. She blinked. Bet? They had a bet of some sort concerning her!? Her eyebrow twitched.

"What is going on?" The redheaded orphan said in a level tone. Nothing was familiar to her. It made her confused. She wanted some answers. She wanted them now, and she wanted them fast... "Would someone care to enlighten me?"

…so someone _better start talking._

"Oh nothing." The old guy said. "There is nothing going on."

"You must be getting senile then." The maid said rolling her eyes. The teenager between the two smiled.

"Now you two. We should be glad that she is finally up." He gave them both looks of authority. "Not squabbling around making bets and fighting with each other." 

They both bowed. "I'm sorry lord Van."

Okay. Lord Van. She recognized the name from…from…she blinked. Alright she didn't know exactly where she recognized the name. But this Van guy apparently had power. Maybe she was in enemy territory of some sort and he was their leader. She'd heard other gang members call their superior lord or lady. But the setting didn't fit. She knew, from her view out the window, that she was no longer in the city. But then where could she be?

"Are you alright?" Lord Van asked. Victoria nodded, slowly.

"Yeah I think so. But…where am I?"  

"Oh dear. Where do you think you are?" The old man said suddenly serious. He knelt beside the bed and opened up a large bag. Victoria leaned over the side and looked into the bag full of medical supplies, but not ones that she was used to.

"Um…I have no idea. My best bet is that I'm not in the city anymore." The redhead said. "I don't even know how I got here. I just remember a bright light."

"A bright light eh? And what city do you hail from?" The doctor asked raising a fluffy gray eyebrow. 

"New York." Everyone of the people in the room frowned in confusion. "What?"

"We…" Lord Van said looking at the other two people. "..have never heard of this New York. This is Fanelia." Both the doctor and the young maid nodded.

Both of Victoria's eyebrows rose. "I've never heard of Fanelia." 

"Could it be, Lord Van, that she is from the Mystic Moon?" A large man asked as he stepped into the room. And when thought large she meant large. So large that he nearly had to bend his head down a bit just to walk through the door way. Victoria thought that if she had stood face to face with him she'd either have to be practically three feet off the ground, have him bend over on his knees, or be looking at the bottom of his ribcage. He held a warrior's demeanor and was covered in scars. One such scar kept one eye shut permanently.

"Do you really think so, master Balgus?" the maid asked covering her mouth in surprise. The maid looked at Victoria and then out the window to look up at something in the sky. 

"Well she does hold some characteristics that are uncommon to Gaea. Like her hair is definitely a rare quality that we have never seen…" The doctor said.

"Gaea? Mystic Moon? These words are new to me." Victoria said. She sat up quickly, earning another crack from her resistant back. She winced. "Oww." She rubbed her shoulders and neck.

Suddenly the door burst open. There stomped in Lucan with a small human like creature clinging to his arm. It looked like a little cat girl. Long ears, short pink hair, orange skin, and a long striped tail that was puffed in a very angry feline way. Her features screamed cat.

"You're not supposed to get out a bed yet!" The cat girl hissed. Lucan tried to pry the girl off him.

"I don't care! I had to make sure Victoria was awake and well." He strained angrily waving his arm around wildly trying to fling the clinging girl off. 

"Lucan?" Victoria blinked sapphire eyes at him, following the arm that was being waved wildly with the cat girl attached. He blinked blue eyes at her, his arm slowed.

"Victoria? You're awake?" There was a quiet time just before Lucan threw his arms up, all but throwing the cat girl up into the air, and sighed loudly with relief. The cat girl on the other hand, after being thrown unexpectedly from his arm, had imbedded herself into the ceiling with her claws and was hissing as her tail became nearly as big as her, fluff-wise anyway.

Lucan was on the other side of her bed within seconds looking her and everything about her. "Are you alright?" She nodded. 

"Yes. Just a little confused."

"About where we are?"

"Yes…how did you…?" 

"I'm still confused but at least I know the jist of it all, although it's kinda hard to swallow. I'll explain it to you late. Right now I think it's important for us to feed you," At the mention of food Victoria's stomach growled. Lucan laughed. "Then get you some clothes to fit in around here."

"I can tell right now that you will be explaining quite a lot of things to me." Victoria smiled. He smiled as well.

"I know."

                                    *                      *                      *

Victoria, as politely as possible, ate and pillaged all the food she could get to. Now, that's actually very hard to do politely when you feel like you haven't eaten in weeks. The stares that she received were blissfully ignored in favor for a more satisfying approach on eating. At least, for the moment. 

"Wow you sure were hungry." The cat girl said. She had been introduced as Merle. Victoria nodded between bites. Lucan smiled.

"At least she's back to normal. She's always had a big appetite."

"Not half as big as yours." Came Victoria's mumble.

"Hey!" The ashy haired boy yelped, traces of red spreading across his cheeks.

"Well…at least you didn't deny it like the last time." Victoria said with a grin. He sweatdropped anime style. "So you were explaining before that we're on some different planet, kinda like an alternate world, and we were brought here by some kind of beam of light. That is why I am forced to where these—" She fingered the strange clothe that she wore as a loose black top that showed her navel and the black sash that held up a pair of cream colored loose, puffy pants. Her sleek black slippers tapped against the floor. For some reason Victoria felt like a gypsy or something.  "—clothes."

Everyone nodded.

"So what do we do now? Veronica and the rest of the gang are no where to be seen, we're stuck on this Gaea for an indefinite amount of time, and I'm still a little baffled to our entire situation." Victoria raised an eyebrow at Lucan. He shrugged his broad shoulders.

"We could always accept the hospitality of Fanalia's king."

"Actually…" Van pointed out. "I'm not king yet. The coronation ceremony takes place tomorrow since I have recently brought back a Drag Energist." He watched both Lucan and Victoria take on a confused look. "A Drag Energist is like the heart of a dragon. It powers most of our machines. I have to pass the Rite of Dragon Slaying and present a Drag Energist to show I'm ready to accept the kingdom." He explained. Both nodded.

"I see. So you're going to be king, but don't you need a queen for that too?" Victoria asked. Instantly Van colored with embarrassment. "Um…never mind. I'm guessing that royal rules from the 'Mystic Moon' don't apply here." She quickly closed her mouth. "Forget I asked anything."

The dark haired teen nodded and looked away. "Yeah sure." Yeah. An odd silence followed as Van and Victoria both twisted nervously in their seats while Merle, Lucan, and Balgus watched. Two were with frowns and a slight jealous twinge and one with an almost knowing smile. Guess who had what? 

I'm sure you can figure it out.

"So…" 

"Well…" Both the redhead and the Fanelian prince tried to break the ice so to speak. Both with not much luck. Oh well. That's what Lucan and Merle were for.

"So, Victoria Le Fay, is it?" Balgus started earning a nod from the red head. "We know you're from the Mystic Moon and that Lucan is your body guard but you mentioned before that there were others before."

"Oh…well I'm the leader of our gang, Mystic Curse, odd right? I have a twin sister who is second in command and we lead our gang to survive. Most of us are orphans or come from abusive homes. Or some of us are runaways. We, unfortunately, steal often to feed ourselves and the children that we take in who come from similar backgrounds. The last I remember was when we, the older group, left to go out and party and were faced with a rival gang. They attacked us, and nearly defeated us, until, strangely enough, my twin sister unleashed some kind of strange power. It was like we were all suddenly in the middle of a hurricane. But only the enemy gang was affected by it. Then she collapsed and we were all brought up by the bright light. That's all I remember but I'm sure that the others are here on this planet as well. I just don't know where they are." Victoria said wrinkling her brows in concentration. "If she were close then I would have sensed her by now, seeing as we're twins. I wonder where she and the others are." Victoria sighed and propped her chin on her fist.

"Are you worried?" Lucan asked, patting her back. His eyes held the same worry that was reflected in hers.

"Off course I am. She is the only relative I have. My own twin sister is somewhere out there. I don't want anything happening to her or the rest of the gang."  The red head stared down at the wooden surface before her.

"If you would like, we might possibly be able to help you look for the rest of your gang." Van said. "But it would have to be after the coronation sermon."

"The people of Fanalia would be very uneasy if their king were to leave their country unprotected." Balgus said.

"That is why I will leave you and Merle in charge while I help them search."

"But Lord Van!" Merle yelped. "I want to come with you."

"I don't want to risk you being in danger should we run into trouble."

"But Vaaaaaaaaan." The cat girl pleaded. Her eyes were wide with the pretty-please-with-sugar-on-top-aren't-I-cute look. Her lip trembled. Victoria had to visibly wince to keep herself from not rolling her eyes.

"I think he's right. My sister and I seem to attract danger. You'd probably be much safer here at the castle." Victoria said. Merle instantly glared.

"You stay out of this. I don't want you anywhere near lord Van." The cat girl pointed one clawed finger at the red head. "You might try to seduce him or hurt him you strange girl from the Mystic Moon." She hissed.

Victoria instantly colored. Beside her, Lucan gulped. "I beg you're pardon! I would do no such thing. Who do you think I am you snobbish little cat girl?" The red head growled, her sapphire eyes flashing a brighter blue. "How dare you assume that I would do anything to you're precious lord Van when I hardly know him."

"Victoria maybe you should quiet dow…."

"I will not when this girl is insinuating that I would whore myself off to the ruler of some country on a foreign world." Victoria snapped at Lucan.

"You don't have to shout at me!" Merle hissed. Her tail shot straight up into the air and puffed up.

"You were the first to begin shouting!" Victoria looked read to leap over the table to strangle the cat girl who looked verily ready to do the same. The room had suddenly escalated 10 degrees in temperature. Lucan looked around before settling his eyes on Victoria. Waves of shimmering heat seemed to be radiating off of her. He blinked blue eyes at the sight. He quickly looked around the rest of the table at noticed that Merle had backed down quite suddenly and Van and Balgus were both staring intently at Victoria. He grabbed her arm and yanked her down into her seat, ignoring the sudden burning feeling in his hand.

"She backed down, Vic. She acknowledges that you are the tougher one and right one. Can we please calm down now?" Lucan whispered in her ear. Victoria took a deep breath before nodding. 

"Fine." She crossed her arms and looked away from the table. The temperature dropped back down to normal and everything seemed fine once again. But there was still tension lacing the room firmly. 

"Well, lord Van, I see no problem with helping them. After the ceremonies we will announce that you will be leaving for a short period of time on business matters. In the mean time we should get Miss Le Fay some normal Fanelian garb. Maybe a nice dress to attend your coronation in." Balgus said standing from his seat. Van nodded numbly, still looking at Victoria. Merle glared before tugging at Van's shirt. He blinked and then got up. Lucan and Victoria stood and walked after Balgus and the maid, Cecilianna. 

"Where are we going?" Lucan whispered. The red headed girl shrugged.

"I have no idea. I'm just playing follow the leader."

~Owari

Raven: Wow. This is the only story that I have up that can consistently have long chapters. For some reason this story is relatively easy to write now. I'm sure it'll be different later on. I'll probably get lazy and not update within months. But I'm trying to put this story up just for the sake of the few reviewers who actually reviewed and liked this story. It's for all of them. A thank you. Hopefully I can throw in some surprises and make the plot known soon. The chapters are probably going to swich between what's happening with Veronica and then what's happening with Victoria. We'll probably also meet Allan in the near future. At least Victoria will. Stay tuned for more Thinking About Forever. =^_^=


	4. Up in Flames

Disclaimer: I really don't want to write this every damn time I make the next chapter. But…I don't own Escaflowne. Only the original characters that you see.

**Thinking About Forever**

By: Raven Moonshadow

Chapter 4

"So where did Dilandau and the Dragonslayers go?" Veronica looked up at the silent soldier across from her. For some odd reason she had the feeling that he was ignoring her. He hadn't said anything since she had sat down, maybe 20 minutes ago. It felt like she ought to be talking to a brick wall. _I might at least get a better conversation out of the brick wall. _

Silence. 

_Okay now this is getting annoying. _Veronica reached across the table and snatched the soldier's spoon out of his hand. Holding up just out of his reach she smirked. "If you wish to eat with this spoon then you will answer my question." The soldier glared and made a grab for the spoon, which she pulled away tauntingly. "Tsk, tsk, I told you to answer the question if you wanted the spoon back unharmed."

"They're out on a mission." The soldier said monotonously. 

"Where?" The red head drawled out slowly in a taunting manner. The soldier growled.

"Some country called Fanelia."

"To do what?"

Growl. Glare. "Probably to destroy it." 

"When will they be back?"

The soldier in chain mail turned an interesting shade of purplish-red. "In a few hours." Veronica smiled and tossed the spoon to the soldier lazily.

"Thanks. It was a pleasure doing business with you." And she stood up with a smirk and leisurely strolled away from the table and out the door.

Folken watched from the shadows with a half-smile as the redheaded young woman toyed with his soldier. _What an interesting girl. Then he seemingly vanished back into the shadows._

Veronica on the other hand walked down the dimly lit halls, staring up at the ceiling in boredom. A few hours. That was way too long for her. Folken had promised a sort of tournament to see if her gang could become part of the elite Dragonslayers. That was…after Dilandau and the Dragonslayers got back. 

Dilandau.

The name sent unpleasant shivers down her spine. She'd only been here a day or two and already she had clashed with the insane albino teen. The Dragonslayers had been amazed that she was even still alive after the way they had butted heads. And so far, after that fight, she had managed to avoid him like the plague. But she'd have to see him later. Compete to become a soldier under him. She wasn't really sure that that was what she wanted. 

It was no secret. She feared him.  With a sigh Veronica continued to muse to herself mentally until running foot steps made her realize she wasn't alone.

"Yo Chica!" The red head snapped around.

"Tasha. It's you. How's Timothy and Garret?"  The red head asked stopping mid-stride. The Spanish girl caught up to her.

"Recovering. Timothy's much better and Garret…well Garret is one tough muchacho. His limp is almost gone now. This places medical staff is muchos buenos." Tasha said smiling. Veronica smiled back. 

"That's good."

"So when does this 'tournament' start?" the Spanish girl asked anxiously. "I'm fully ready to kick some ass. Especially that guy you said wanted to make you his puta." Tasha did a round house to accent her point, just barely missing Veronica.

"Whoa!" Emerald eyes were wide as the red head ducked. She held up her hands. "Save it for him, Tasha."

Tasha ran a hand through her curly brown ponytail. "Sorry. But a fight excites me. I just can't wait." Veronica giggled. 

"I know, Tasha. I know. Let's go torture Derek or something until Dilandau and the Dragonslayers get back." The red head suggested with a mischievous smile. Tasha giggled evilly.

"Ah, chica, I like the way you think." And then both girls rushed off to play a game of torture-Derek-until-he's-insane. Folken blinked as he watched them run down the hallway. _Interesting…_

                        *                      *                      *                      *

"I, Van Slanzar de Fanel, accept the duties as royal heir of Fanelia and in doing so, have completed the rite of Dragon slaying." Van Fanel presented the Drag Energist to the high priest of Fanelia. The priest bowed and took the Energist, presenting it to the audience as Van knelt in his royal Fanelian garb. The armor he wore was white with the Fanelian family insignia on it's helmet and in the corner of it's chest piece. 

The priest then handed the Energist to Balgus who in turn handed the priest a sheathed sword.  It was laid in Van's upturned hands as the priest began to speak in a language that Victoria didn't understand. Yes, Victoria, who watched, in a royal Fanelian dress of emerald green with the royal house insignia skillfully woven in gold just above her right breast, at the front of the crowds of people, all eagerly waiting for their new, official king. 

She was surprised at how festive the ceremonies had been before everyone calmed down to watch in awe as their king was made king. Merle had decided to get her view from the cliff above. Victoria had no doubt that it was also to try to avoid being around her. The cat girl had been very wary of the red head after their fight yesterday. 

Van nodded at the priests words, unsheathed the sword, and then turned to hold it out towards the people of Fanelia. A cheer went up and the people burst into applause. She smiled at him and began clapping. Lucan, though, watched Van warily till Victoria elbowed him into clapping as well. He blinked down at her raised eyebrows as he clapped.

"Hm…?" Victoria gave Lucan a look.

"What?" He asked exasperated. 

"Stop glaring at Van."

"I'm not glaring. Besides, what does it matter?"

"He's being crowned king. Give him some respect. You were the one that suggested we except the Fanelian royal hospitality."

"Hmph." He made a face that was similar to that of a pout. Victoria shook her head, ruby locks flew only to settle on her shoulders wildly. Then she sniffed. Then sniffed again.

"What is it?" Lucan asked suddenly worried.

"Smells like fire." Victoria turned toward the city below them.

"Fire?" He blinked and then looked down to where Victoria had suddenly pointed. Indeed, there was a fire below and lots of smoke billowing around. Other people had begun to notice the red heads gaze and screams went up. A man in armor rushed up to Balgus and Van and told them something that made there eyes widen. Shouts began to go up. People began running and screaming. Some soldiers that flew past them, weapons in hand, were saying something about 'invisible enemies'. 

"Invisible enemies…" Lucan mumbled his brow knitting together. His hand locked onto the red heads arm. "We should get out of here. I don't want you getting hurt."

"We should go help them. They've given us food and shelter." Victoria said turning to him.

"But…" She was already heading in the other direction, to where Van was talking with some armored men. Lucan quickly followed after her mumbling about audacious fiery redheads.

"Van!" He didn't turn. His attention was centered solely on the soldier in front of him. "Van!" Balgus looked over at her. He motioned her closer as she pressed through a frantic bunch of women and children. She heard Lucan behind her. Finally she squeezed through and stopped at Balgus' side. He looked down at her in concern. "What's going on?" Victoria asked. 

"It is nothing for you to know. I am concerned for your safety, though." 

She huffed. "I want to help. I know how to fight. You've given Lucan and I shelter for no reason other than kindness, it's the least we could do to repay you." Balgus shook his head, even though a small smile graced his lips.

"That is very generous of you, but I would feel much better knowing that you, Lucan, and Lord Van were safely away from Fanelia while we fight." An explosion sounded in the background, causing many heads to turn. Van growled.

"Balgus I want to fight." He nearly echoed what she had said to Balgus earlier. Balgus' answer was the same for him.

"Lord Van, please take Lady Victoria and Lord Lucan away from here. Use the Escaflowne." Balgus held out the Drag Energist and gave it to Van.  The young king looked ready to protest when another explosion sounded, this one much closer than any of the others. The enemy was definitely moving towards the castle. "Hurry Lord Van!" Balgus turned away then and snatched a huge sword out of the air after it had been thrown by another general. 

Victoria wanted to watch, she wanted to make sure that the friendly scarred warrior would be okay, but Van suddenly tugged her away towards a large building that lay not to far away. They ran, all three of them. Van scowled once as he looked over his shoulder to watch the flames that were raging at the outskirts of the city.

She saw the way his teeth clenched and his eyes hardened.

She could almost see his heart tighten with worry over his kingdom. 

Fanelia.

They skidded through the doors of the building and turned sharply. Running down the corridor they finally came upon a room filled with white marble. A large round marble dais with swirling gray, white, and flecks of black sat in the middle of the room with wide stairs leading up to it. It was gorgeous room. Victoria and Lucan both craned their necks to look up upon the impossibly high domed ceiling. Paintings of what looked like men in armor fighting serpent looking things swirled around the very bottom of the dome along with a story line of the kingdom and a big white suit of armor. She looked a little farther up. There was something at the very top but the bright light that suddenly flared blinded her into looking away.

When her eyes finally adjusted she saw Van in the center of the platform holding up the Drag Energist and the ceremonial sword he had been handed at his coronation. She heard him shout something and then he slid his thumb over the edge of the sword. Blood beaded at the tip and he smoothed it over the polished surface of the Energist. There was suddenly a loud crack and then a creak that sounded from the high dome. Victoria looked up, shielding her eyes to the light in hopes of catching glimpse of what the sound was coming from.

Her heart beat sped up.

An unexpected lurch in her abdomen. It suddenly felt like something was crawling through her mind. Worming through, viewing her memories and dreams. She placed a hand to her temple, trying to stop the feeling.

There was a thud. Her eyes snapped back up to witness a huge machine land before Van, a billowing cape behind it. Van spoke once again, louder this time, but her head was throbbing, jumbling the words. The only one she heard before he slid his hand through what looked to be solid red quarts stone was…

…Escaflowne.

The red quarts stone pulsed with life. Victoria lurched forward with the pulse, unfamiliar feelings and pictures flashing before her eyes as she looked up into the mecha's cold blue stone eyes. Lucan had her in his arms in a second.

"Vicki, what's wrong?" He asked urgently. Her sapphire eyes were open wide as she watched the mental pictures flash. The last one was of Veronica in some unfamiliar place standing in front of a window with Derek and Tasha fighting not to far away. Her twins' head snapped around to look at Victoria before her emerald eyes widened and her hand flew to her temple with a soundless scream. Then it was gone and collapsed heavily against Lucan, gasping for breath. What was that? She looked into Lucan's blue eyes as he searched her face for answers. "Vicki?"

She waved him off. "I'm okay. But…but I saw Veronica. Tasha and Derek are with  her at least." He blinked.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She nodded. She looked up over Lucan's shoulder and yelped. The white mecha was standing over them. Lucan snapped around, ready to defend her only to see the same machine and have his own eyes widen. She looked around. 

Where was Van?

Suddenly a piece of the machines face slid away and Van's face was there.

"Is everything alright?" the king asked. Victoria nodded. "Good. Hold still. I'm going to pick you guys up." A large hand came down and gently wrapped its fingers around Lucan before hoisting him up onto its shoulder. "Can you manage to hang on?" Lucan nodded, grabbing onto a piece of the armor. The hand came down again and picked her up. It was surprisingly gentle for a metal made hand. "Hang on."

Lucan and Victoria both nodded as the machine began moving. Then it began to pick up it's pace. They both held tight to whatever they could get their hands on as the mecha made its way down the corridor to the opening they had first come through. 

Something smashed into the back of the mecha. Van grunted and swung around. But nothing was there. Victoria blinked. What the…? She saw a glimmer in the corner of her eye. "Van! Look over there. I thought I saw something." He turned and again they found nothing. Victoria looked around, her mind going to work. There was something here. She could feel it but for some odd reason they couldn't see it. Suddenly her eyes went to a piece of marble. There in the marble she saw something behind them reflected. It was like a floating mecha arm, attached to nothing, but raised to the Escaflowne. "Van Behind us!" She screamed. Van reached back and swung around, a large sword suddenly in hand. It came into contact with the arm and there was a flicker, before another huge mecha, a blue one, suddenly came into sight, attached to the arm Van had just sliced off. 

It backed away, raising its other hand and spewed flames forth. Van jumped away, shielding Victoria and Lucan the best he could. Victoria looked into the flames, entranced. They shimmered and licked towards her hungrily in tendrils of red, orange, and gold. Her eyes flashed and through the flames she saw three other blue mecha's helping the other away. "Van their getting away." She said, her eyes never straying from the flames. Allured, she reached out, only to have Van pull her away. She made noise, still reaching for it. But Van went around the flames and then with a bolt of suddenly agility he leapt over the flames and out the door.

Van stopped dead in his tracks after that, and all three stared at the city.

Flames.

Fire everywhere. It engulfed the entire city. The Fanelian mecha's littered the ground. Blood leaked from the wreckages, causing Victoria to recoil. There was so much hurt and sorrow in the air. How could such a beautiful element like fire cause so much damage? But then again, in the wrong hands, everything can cause damage. 

The blue mecha missing an arm was there, a strange silver liquid leading from the broken limb like blood. Three other mecha's stood around it. There was a stomp and a swoosh, as if a cape were being tossed aside, and another mecha revealed itself. This one was red though. Laughter came from inside it as more blue ones appeared behind it, six more to be exact. The red one had something in one of its hands claws. She could almost see a smirk on the blank face in her head that was the other machines pilot. It leveled its hand in the air and released the thing from its claws.

Balgus' body hit the ground with a dull thud. 

Her eyes widened. Balgus. He…he was dead. She felt tears come to her eyes as she gazed at the old man who had been so kind to her. Memories of the few days that she had been in Fanelia came to mind. All of them included Balgus. She shook. 

The whole mecha shook.

And through teary eyes she saw Van crying as well. Lucan looked downcast, his eyes glazed. Everyone felt the loss…

…And Victoria screamed. Red light flashed around her. And past that point she could remember nothing except the fire and ruby red eyes smirking at her.

                        *                      *                      *                      *

Veronica screamed, one hand clutched her chest above her heart and the other held her temple. It hurt. She felt so much pain. Was…Victoria in trouble? 

Her body trembled.

Derek and Tasha had stopped as quickly as their bickering had begun and they rushed to her side. Folken appeared suddenly with a few soldiers behind him. The red head clenched her eyes shut as tears prickled her eyes. Why? What was happening? Her thoughts revolved around Victoria.

Then just as suddenly her body flared with a purple light and she blacked out.

                        *                      *                      *                      *

Somewhere far away a gang of men looked up into the ruby eyes of a giant shadow, its large shapeless black wings flaring behind it as it let out a fanged smirk. The leader of the men smirked as well, causing a crease in the jagged scar that ran from his temple to his chin.

~Owari

Raven:  *ducks flying sporks* I know! I know! I haven't updated this story in forever. Forgive me. I have been working on my original writing on fiction press under the name Obsidian Night and have had no time to work on any of my fanfic's. I'll try to make it up to you. Hopefully you like this 6 page chapter. Reviews are excepted. 


	5. IMPORTANT Read if you want TAF to contin...

Sorry but this isn't a chapter.

I've come to realize that not many people are reviewing this and without reviews it's difficult for me to write it. If you want this fic to stay up than please REVIEW AND TELL ME SO. If you don't I'm gonna discontinue this fic and turn it into an original story that will go up on FictionPress.com under my original pen name Obsidian Night.

If you want me to continue updating this story than please, email me or review. Otherwise…it's going. I'm thinking that no one's review because it's got too many original characters and no HitomixVan romance in it. Or something like that. I know that my writing is okay. People have told me that it's good but…and I hate to admit this, but I'm a greedy little Fanfiction writer who likes reviews, even if their flames. I want to know what's wrong with the story or what you like about it. It makes me want to write it and gives me inspiration.

Please tell me if this should stay or if it should go. If I don't have anyone tell me then I'm taking it down, changing some things, and then putting it up under fictionpress.com. I'll give you all out there about a week. That means Friday 2/6 till Friday 2/13.

            Blessed Be

            ~Raven Moonshadow

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